Pineapple Does Not Belong on Pizza
by DWgeek2010
Summary: Natalie McGarrett only flew to Hawaii for her Uncle John's funeral. She never meant to get caught up in Steve's search for Victor Hesse or to join Steve's new taskforce. Or to meet the very hot Detective Danny Williams. Danny/OC. M for language and eventual adult content.


The skinny white kid clutched the grocery bag of stolen convenient-store money tightly to his chest as he ran like his life depended on it—it kind of did; after all, he had shot and killed the 7-Eleven manager to get his hands on a measly six hundred dollars.

Natalie McGarrett panted as she quickly turned off the street and into the alley, bouncing off the wall as she continued sprinting, sweat dripping off her forehead as she chased the punk through streets of downtown Los Angeles.

"Freeze!" she shouted after the kid, gulping in a large breath of air. "LAPD! Stop right there!" She grabbed her radio and barked into it, "Suspect heading east on Yucca Street. Suspect armed with 9mm and considered dangerous. Please send backup!"

Her badge bounced against her chest as she ran, turning around the corner of Ivar Avenue, only to duck as bullets pinged off of the Stucco wall of the café she had quickly ducked behind, pulling out her Glock G25 out of her thigh holster to return fire.

"Drop your weapon before I drop you!" Natalie snarled out to the kid, peeking around the corner, only to take cover once more.

"Fuck you, bitch!" the kid screamed out, his voice echoing off all the nearby buildings.

"Punk-ass loser," Natalie growled to herself before spotting a ladder just behind her on her right. She grinned her herself and climbed to the roof, crouching as she snuck to the edge. Luck was on her side; the kid was hiding behind a dumpster that was on the other side of the café. "Gotcha, you sack of shit," she muttered to herself with a grin before pulling a very McGarrett move and dropped off the roof (it was only about fifteen feet down) and on top of the kid, knocking his gun from his hands as he cried out in surprise, not expecting her to do that.

"Fuck!" Natalie cried out as she twisted her ankle in her landing, tackling the punk to the ground, wrestling his hands behind his back to slap a pair of handcuffs on him. "You are under arrest, shit head. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you."

Thirty minutes (and a major chewing out from her Chief later—'how dare she pull that kind of shit in his department—jumping off a fucking roof') and a quick look-at in the ambulance (why did ambulances always show up at crime scenes when they weren't needed?) at her ankle (it was only a mild sprain—she had to keep it wrapped up) later, Natalie was exhausted and looking forward to a hot shower and sleep as she drove her mint green 1959 Volkswagen twenty-three window Microbus home (a gift from her Uncle John before her and her mom visited when she was sixteen).

She had barely stepped foot in her apartment door at ten at night when her cell phone rang. Juggling her purse, gym bag (filled with an assortment of work out clothes, spare clothes, and a couple weapons, just as a precaution) and her lunch bag (she preferred to make her own food instead of eating out), she dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, her face lighting up when she saw the name 'Stevie.'

"What's up, Cuz?" she asked cheerfully, instantly cheered up by her cousin calling her. Steve lived in Honolulu, Hawaii with his dad (Natalie's uncle, John) and was a Navy SEAL, but he was currently out of the country on official military business.

"Nat…" he breathed out, her name all he was able to get out.

"Steve?! What is it? What's wrong?" Natalie asked, instantly on red alert, her cop instincts telling her something was very wrong.

"It's dad," he said, his voice cracking.

After getting off the phone with Steve, Natalie called her mom (John's sister, Debora), sobbing on the phone with her for the next half hour. She chokingly offered to fly her mom out to Honolulu, Hawaii for the funeral that had been planned for the following morning (she had booked a flight on her laptop while speaking with her mom for eleven that night) but her mom told her that she would just fly out the next morning, insisting that she wouldn't let her daughter waste money on a plane ticket for her.

She quickly packed a bag, wishing that she could bring her surfboard with her, knowing that Steve would probably want to surf while she was there (in memorial for John), but that wasn't a priority at the moment. She barely made it to LAX on time, catching her flight to Honolulu International Airport with only a couple minutes to spare. For the next five hours and forty-three minutes, Natalie fidgeted, not able to sit still, anxious to land, not a fan of flying.

She took a breath of fresh air when she emerged from the airport at five in the morning (Baggage Claim took forever), exhausted and feeling washed-out; not to mention that her ankle was still a bit sore. Immediately after signing for an old Jeep Cherokee at the airport car rental, Natalie drove to the hotel nearest to the McGarrett home, knowing that the house itself was probably still a crime scene.

Sinking down onto the bed, taking a deep breath, Natalie flopped backwards, wiping the few leaking tears before they dripped into her ears. She had a couple hours before she had to meet Steve at the airstrip and give him a ride to the funeral. She hopped up off the bed, slipping her clothes off and leaving them in a pile on the bed before heading to the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. She managed to just barely doze off before the alarm on her phone went off, startling her awake.

Sighing, she scrubbed her hands over her face before getting up to face the very long day that was in front of her. She stood up and pulled her black three-quarter sleeved, just below her knees dress and pulled it on, as well as her pair of plain black heels. Sighing again, she took her bag of toiletries to the bathroom and carefully applied eyeliner, mascara, and nude lipstick and pulled her red hair up in a simple bun, securing it with a few bobby pins.

She took in another deep breath as she examined herself in the mirror, wondering if she should have brought her dress blues. The reason why she hadn't was that they were in her office, which had been locked when she had headed to the airport.

"That'll have to do," she muttered to herself, turning away from the mirror as she swiped her purse off the bed heading for the door, making sure she had the keycard in her wallet before shutting the door. She paused for a moment, trying to school a blank look on her face before heading down the stairs to the Jeep.

It was dead silent in the car as she drove to the airstrip, looking around when she got there for her tall, dark, and Neanderthal-ish Navy SEAL of a cousin. She spotted him immediately and gave a short honk with the horn, alerting him that she was there. After tossing his bag in the backseat, as soon as he was in the car, Steve pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, Stevie," she whispered, rubbing his back in a soothing manner.

When they parted, Natalie put the car in drive and headed to the church where the service was being held, parking the car.

"I just…can't believe he's gone, Nat," Steve whispered.

"I'm here for you, Steve," Natalie said, taking his hand in hers. "And Mary will be here, too."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Natalie opened her door and stepped out in to the warm Hawaiian air, straightening her dress, leaving her purse in the Jeep. She went over to Steve's side, opening the door for him.

"C'mon, Steve," Natalie murmured, tugging on Steve's arm to pull him out of his shock and out of the car. She steered Steve to the front pew in the church, where her mom and Mary were already seated (she gave them both long, hard hugs), and he sat down, stiff. Natalie remembered at the last moment that Steve was a pallbearer and had to nudge him to get him up and moving.

As Natalie had predicted, the day was a long one that dragged by slowly. Steve and Mary delivered their eulogies and the service was over, starting the funeral procession to the cemetery. The street was lined with civilians, as well as cops that were mourning the loss of John McGarrett, showing respect by wearing their dress blues.

Natalie walked just behind Steve and Mary, with her mom, following the hearse that held John's coffin that was draped with an American flag in respect to John's time in the military. Natalie squinted against the sun, wishing she had thought to bring her sunglasses like Mary had, to shade her eyes, as well as hide her tears. She had never been very close with her Uncle John, especially after her Aunt Doris had passed away and John had sent Steve and Mary to live her and Debora in Los Angeles.

Natalie was slightly uncomfortable at the tension that was clearly visible between Steve and Mary, knowing that the siblings hadn't really gotten along too well in the past ten years, what with Steve leaving to join the military as soon as he was old enough to, leaving Mary behind. Steve seemed to shake the funk he had been out of and Natalie could see that he was hyper-aware of everyone, scanning faces in the crowd.

Natalie moved her gaze to her feet, shuffling along until they reached the plot that her Aunt Doris was already buried at. A few tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes as everyone paid their final respects and the coffin was slowly lowered into the ground. She jumped, startled, as the officers and detectives of the Honolulu Police Department decided to send John off with a gun salute.

Natalie stuck with Steve after the service, there for moral support, even after Mary drifted away from them. Natalie was distracted, from the next couple giving her and Steve their condolence in the receiving line, by the sound of Mary's giggling drifting over. Natalie saw that she was surrounded by young, good-looking cops and she was hardcore flirting with them at her father's funeral. Natalie scoffed, sending a glare Mary's way, not that her cousin saw it, and elbowed Steve discreetly, indicating with her head in Mary's direction.

Steve scowled before excusing himself from the line of condolences to march over to Mary, a stony look on his face at the very inappropriate behavior from his sister. Natalie kept her place in line, knowing this was something for brother and sister to work out for themselves without her interference.

After the long and emotionally exhausting service, Natalie offered to give Mary a ride to the airport (Mary had exclaimed loudly to anyone that would listen that she was ready to be off the dumpy island and was leaving right after the funeral to head home) but her cousin refused, saying she had spent enough time with Steve and would take a taxi. The same offer went to her mom, who said that she needed to spend a little time with Mary, find out what was really going on with the girl.

Steve took her up on a ride, wanting to go to his family home and look through the crime scene to see things for himself. Natalie agreed to take him (after hugging her mom goodbye, telling her mom that she'd be home in a week or so) as long as they made a couple of stops first, one for food and one for changing clothes, and that she got to tag along with him and aid him. Steve agreed, knowing that a seasoned detective like his cousin could be a big help to him.

The cousins got back in Natalie's rental, driving back through Honolulu to head to Natalie's hotel room, only stopping through a drive-thru to get some burgers and fries. Natalie took the bathroom after they had gotten back to her room, changing from her dress and heels to a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, a black Aerosmith racerback tank top and a pair of practical, but stylish combat boots. She even took a moment to rewrap her ankle, explaining to Steve what had happened when he questioned her injury.

The drive from Natalie's hotel room to 404 Piikoi Street, AKA the McGarrett home, took about fifteen minutes; it would have normally taken longer, but Steve insisted on driving, going so far as to shove Natalie to the passenger seat as he slid in behind the wheel. This, of course, led to an argument between the cousins, both of them McGarretts and both perfectionists with the need to do things their way, such as drive.

Natalie sat the in the passenger seat with her arms crossed, scowling at the dash, knowing that it was actually illegal for Steve to drive her rental (he hadn't been with her to fill out the necessary paperwork) but he didn't to give a shit about that.

Parking in the driveway, Steve and Natalie got out of the Jeep and stood in front of Steve's family's home, just taking a moment to take it in. Natalie put a hand on Steve's shoulder, silently letting him know that she was there before the cousins ducked under the crime scene tape and walked around back.

Natalie took a deep breath, knowing that she was about to enter a crime scene that was very much out of her jurisdiction and could potentially get her fired if she was caught. Steeling herself, knowing that Steve needed her with him for this, Nat found Steve unlocking the garage door, opening it to turn on the lights. She whistled at the old 1968 Mercury Brougham sitting in the garage, still in need of a good repair, but the body was still in good shape.

"Nice car," she commented, taking it in. "Obviously needs some work, but could really be beautiful."

"It was dads," Steve murmured. "We were going to fix her up together but it just never happened; shit got in the way."

Natalie didn't say anything. She pulled a pair of latex gloves from her bag and handed them to Steve, pulling on her own pair of bright blue knuckle-less leather driving gloves, getting ready to examine the crime scene, which she had done hundreds of times, but this time, it was different; this time, it was a personal attack on her family and against Steve.

"I'll start upstairs," Natalie told her cousin, leaving the garage, entering the house to start looking for any evidence upstairs. She didn't see anything in the bedrooms that was useful, besides slight evidence that the killers used the bathroom upstairs, but nothing incriminating, so she headed back downstairs.

"Nothing up there," she informed Steve, heading for the living room. She paused the in the doorway, looking a bit green at the sight of all the blood—her Uncle John's blood, before pressing on. Pulling a small jar with a cotton swab out of her bag, she took a small sample of the blood, just in case not all of it was John's; some of it may belong to his killer. She had a friend back in LA that worked in the crime lab that she could mail the sample to that owed her a favor; she would just have to make sure to mail it before the end of the day.

She knew it wasn't necessary to mail the blood sample and have it tested—Steve knew who had killed his dad, but Natalie liked to cover all of her bases and not leave any evidence behind. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to have some of the killer's DNA on file, just in case.

Keeping a wary eye out on where she stepped, Natalie made her way over to Steve, who was examining the desk in the corner of the room that was nearly overflowing with papers and assorted junk, except for a small area that Steve was testing the size of his own laptop against.

"Did you get a pic of the shoe print?" Natalie asked Steve, using her own lingo as she looked at the bloody shoe print on the floor, setting her own foot next to it to compare the size; it was larger than her foot, but she figured that the owner of the boot had smaller feet than Steve.

"Yeah," Steve muttered, focused on what he was doing. Nat watched in amusement as Steve dug around in a model car box, pulling out a small tube of what Natalie could see was dry graphite powder. She could have easily pulled out her fingerprinting kit, which included a brush, from her bag, but she let Steve do his thing, knowing he would be irritated with her if she interrupted him.

Natalie moved on to the downstairs bathroom, noticing the flecks of blood around the sink, knowing that Victor Hesse had most likely washed his hands there after beating and murdering John. Natalie took a picture with her phone, as well as took another sample with a clean swab.

She went on to the front door, which had been kicked open and had broken the door frame and the latch and took pictures of it, as well as the muddy boot print on the wood of the door, which appeared to be the same size as the bloody one on the floor.

She bit back a yawn, telling herself that she'd get some sleep that night, as she headed back to Steve, who was on the phone with someone. Natalie tried to keep herself busy and not listen in as Steve seemed to be talking to a woman, if his tone of voice was anything to go by.

"Next time, I'll give 'em to you in person," Steve said softly, a small smile on his face. "Promise." He paused for a moment, listening to the person on the other end before he hung up.

"Girlfriend?" Natalie asked, ignoring the scowl that Steve sent at her for eavesdropping on his conversation.

"It's….complicated," Steve said before dropping the subject. "C'mon. Let's get out of here before HPD shows up."

"Right behind you, Cuz," Nat said, indicating for Steve to go first. Following after her cousin into the garage, she ran into Steve's back, nearly falling on her ass as Steve stopped suddenly, something catching his attention.

"What the hell, Steve?" Natalie barked out, but Steve ignored her in favor pulling a rusty, grimy toolbox off the shelf and showing it to her. Her face softened as she read the sticker, which said 'CHAMP', clearly John's message to Steve in his final phone call, which Steve had told her about.

"What is all this stuff?" Natalie murmured, mostly to herself as Steve opened the toolbox, examining the seemingly random contents inside. She had asked the very question that Steve had been thinking to himself as Natalie looked at the crime scene photos of a car bomb with the exact date as his mom's car accident stamped in the corner of them. "What the fuck?" she mumbled to herself.

Steve pulled a tape recorder out, pressing play, filling the garage with John's voice.

"I can't continue the investigation into the police department from the inside. I don't trust the people I work with. So I'm gonna have to do this on my own. It's all about the key. I just don't know what it's for. I have only bee able to find two sources..."

Natalie froze in place as she heard floorboards squeak and a door opening and closing and Steve clicked the tape off and placed it in the toolbox, closing the lid, at the same time a voice exclaimed, "You two! Hands in the air! Don't move!"

Natalie whipped out her gun (that she convinced her superiors to give her a pass to take on the plane and to Hawaii) and aimed it at the newcomer that entered the garage. She blinked owlishly for a second at the hot, slick-back blonde haired man that was also aiming a gun at the two McGarretts.

"Who are you?!" Steve burst out at the same time the blonde man shouted, "Who the hell're you two?"

"Sergeant Natalie McGarrett, LAPD," Natalie answered, trying to break the sudden tension in the room and the blonde flicked his eyes over her for a split second before Steve said, "Commander Steve McGarrett, this is my father's house."

"Detective Danny Williams, Honolulu PD, put your guns away," the blonde man answered and Natalie narrowed her eyes, but kept a firm grip on her firearm, just in case the good-looking man was full of bullshit.

"No, you put your gun away and let me see your ID," Steve answered childishly and Natalie would have normally elbowed him for his child-like antics, but since they had just buried his father that morning, she decided to let it slide, but rolled her eyes.

"You show me your ID! Right now!," Detective Williams answered back, just as sassily and Natalie knew, right then and there, that these two together were going to be trouble, if they ever say each other again after that day, which she was hoping to see the hot detective again.

"I'm not putting my gun down," Steve said, not budging.

"Neither am I," Detective Williams, keeping his eyes locked with Steve, not taking the red-head to be much of a threat.

"Holy fuck! You guys are acting like such children!" Natalie suddenly burst out, drawing both of the men's eyes towards her. "I'm going to reach for my fucking badge and if you try and shoot me, I'll break your fucking arm!"

Detective Williams looked shocked at first and then wary and the red-head reached in her back pocket of her pants to pull out her LAPD badge, tossing it to Detective Blondie, putting her free hand back on her Glock, only taking it off again when he tossed her badge, which she replaced in her pocket.

"Now you," Natalie said, raising an eyebrow at Danny. Danny looked at her for a moment before locking eyes with Steve, not lowering his gun and not pulling out his badge.

"Fine, don't put your gun down, just use your free hand to pull out your ID," Steve said after a moment of what Natalie considered a bromance eye staring contest.

"Please, after you," Danny insisted, gesturing for Steve to go ahead with his free hand.

"At the same time?" Steve said, raising an eyebrow.

"At the same time?" Detective Williams asked incredulously.

"Yeah, at the same time," Steve said in his 'no bullshit' tone.

"What, like on the count of three?" Det. Williams sneered, while Natalie scoffed in disbelief at the two idiots.

"Sure, okay, threes good," Steve said.

"On three: One…two…three…" Danny said slowly and on three, Danny and Steve moved at the same time and both slowly pulled out their wallets, showing each other their ID's while still aiming guns at each other. Natalie, having put her Glock away already, leaned against the hood of the Mercury, watching the two men idiotically argue back and forth like an old married couple.

"Look, I'm sorry about your father and your uncle, but you two can't be here; still an active crime scene," Danny continued after lowering his gun and putting his badge away, Steve doing the same.

"Doesn't seem very active," Steve snarked, looking around the desolate garage.

"I can't share that information with you two," Danny said, narrowing his eyes at the pair.

"Then I'll share some with you," Steve said and Natalie had to roll her eyes again. "Hesse wasn't here alone; someone was sitting at the desk in the study; there was space cleared for a thirteen inch laptop and my father hated computers."

"I'm gonna ask you again, you two gotta leave," Danny insisted and Steve nodded, with an "Okay, got it," indicating for Natalie to follow him as he picked up the tool box that had the CHAMP sticker on it, ready to head out the door. "And you can leave the box. That is evidence, you know that."

"I came with this, didn't I Natalie?" Steve boldly lied, dragging Natalie into it.

"Yes, he did, Detective Williams," Natalie lied for Steve, knowing how much this meant to him.

"No, you didn't," Danny said, narrowing his eyes at the cousins. "I can see the dust void it left on the shelf. What's in the box? What're you hiding in there?"

"How long have you been with Honolulu PD?" Steve asked, dodging the question, still not letting go of the toolbox.

"None of your business. What are you, Barbara Walters?" Danny sassed and Natalie just rubbed a palm over her face, tired.

"It is if you're investigating my father's death," Steve insisted, trying to keep the subject off of the toolbox.

"I'd really like to get back to that, so the sooner you leave, the sooner I can," Danny said, Natalie noticing that he used his hands a lot when he talked, something she usually did when she was really getting passionate about a conversation

"Anything you say," Steve said lightly, once again trying to walk out with the toolbox and Natalie smirked.

"Leave the box, or get arrested. Alright?" Danny said, looking exhausted, Natalie noticed.

"You gonna call for backup?" Steve asked in amusement while Natalie pursed her lips, really not wanting to be arrested, as it would appear on her record in LA.

"An ambulance," Danny answered smugly and Natalie actually snorted at the thought of the slightly shorter but still very hot detective trying to take on the tall Navy SEAL. "Problem, sweetheart?" Danny asked sarcastically to Natalie.

"Nope," Natalie said with a glare, despite how good-looking Blondie was. "And my name is Natalie, not sweetheart. You'd do well to remember that."

After a brief stare off, Danny looked away from Natalie and Steve finally put the box down on the workbench again and Natalie could tell that Steve had something up his sleeve since he didn't give up easily at all.

"Thank you," Danny said to Steve, looking grateful that the hardheaded military man backed off.

"Don't thank me yet," Steve said, pulling a business card out of his pocket, as well as his cell phone, dialing the number on the card before waiting. Danny looked at Natalie, raising an eyebrow.

"What are you doing? Any idea what he's doing?" Danny asked and Natalie shook her head, no idea what her cousin was up to.

"Uh, yeah, Governor Jameson, please..." Steve said, once the person on the other end answered. "Tell her it's Steve McGarrett."

Danny chuckled in disbelief, as did Natalie, who had no idea that Steve had the Governor's number on his person.

"Oh, please," Danny scoffed, not believing Steve.

Steve just grins to Danny and threw in, "Be with you in a sec," before turning his attention to the phone, which he switched on speaker phone.

"Commander, Governor Jameson here," the woman answered, much to Natalie's amusement and amazement. "What can I do for you?"

"You're kidding me," Danny muttered, pacing the garage, which was annoying the crap out of Natalie.

"Governor, I'll take the job," Steve continued in the phone, taking it off of speaker phone and ignoring the looks Danny was giving him, instead looking at the toolbox and Natalie took a deep breath, wondering if she was ready to dive head first into this with Steve, or just head back home to Los Angeles now that the funeral was over.

"Let's just say I found something that changed my mind," Steve continued, listening for a moment. "Immediately. I'll transfer to the reserves and I'll run your task force. But on two conditions: One, I want my cousin, Natalie McGarrett transferred from the Los Angeles Police Department and onto the taskforce and two, when the time comes, I don't want to hear the words "red tape" or "I'll get back to you." That bureaucratic bullshit does not work with me."

Natalie stood there, stunned that Steve would even think of her when forming a taskforce like that and she now had to make up her mind if she wanted to stay in Hawaii or go back to LA. Steve had paused while Natalie was standing there, frozen with her mouth gaping like a fish before continuing.

"Are you serious? What, right now?" Steve asked the Governor in surprise while Danny stared at him, wondering her himself just what in the hell was happening. "Just one second, Governor," Steve said, turning to Natalie. "What d'you say, Nat? Are you in?"

Natalie paused for a moment, weighing her options before nodding and exclaiming, "Hell, yes!"

Steve grinned at her before saying, "Repeat after me." Natalie nodded before repeating the Oath of Honor after Steve. She raised her right hand and said, "I Natalie Debra McGarrett, do solemnly declare upon my honor and conscience that I will act at all time to the best of my ability and knowledge in the manner befitting an officer of the law. I will faithfully obey the orders of my superiors and will be ready to confront danger in the line of duty."

"Did you get all that, Governor?" Steve asked, wondering if she had heard Natalie swear in and sent a thumbs up at his cousin, indicating that she was good. He adapted an ultra-cheery tone, just for Danny, as he said, "Thank you, Governor."

He hung up his cell phone and turned to Danny, saying, "Now it's our crime scene."

"See ya, Detective Hottie," Natalie said with a wink as Steve picked up the toolbox, leaving the garage with Natalie, leaving a fuming Danny behind them.

"Detective Hottie?" Steve asked in amusement as they climbed back in Natalie's Jeep.

"Oh, shut it," Natalie groaned, but she still had a smile on her face. "He is pretty good-looking."

"If you say so," Steve chuckled.

Steve and Natalie took the toolbox back to Natalie's hotel room, hiding it in her suitcase and then under her bed, though Natalie could tell that it bothered him not to actually have it with him. Though Natalie saw that Danny Williams really seemed to get on Steve's nerves, and vice versa, Steve told Natalie on the way to Honolulu PD that he wanted Danny on their team, that the guy seemed like a good detective.

"Alright," Natalie agreed. "Just don't arrest me when I punch the guy, even if he is hot."

Steve laughed and it seemed to finally hit Natalie that she had just accepted a job in Honolulu, Hawaii, and that she was moving from LA, away from her mom and her life. Suddenly unsure, Natalie bit her lip and gripped the armrest of her Jeep, biting her lip as well.

"Look, Natalie, I know that this is probably a big change for you, but I need your help, here, to find Hesse and eliminate him," Steve said, noticing the look on his cousin's face.

"Yeah, I know, and I'm here for you, Stevie," Nat said, patting his arm. "As soon as I can, I'm gonna go back to LA and have my stuff packed up and find a place here in Honolulu somewhere, preferably somewhere relatively cheap."

"As soon as HPD are done with my dad's house, you can stay with me until you have somewhere of your own," Steve offered.

"Thanks, Steve," Natalie said with smile. "I really appreciate it."

The pair pulled up at the Honolulu Police Department to speak to Danny's boss, to get his take on the detective, to see if he'd be a good fit for their team they were in the process of building. Natalie walked behind Steve slightly, pausing outside the door of Captain Hookano, Danny's superior. She raised an eyebrow as she heard Detective William's raised voice from behind the doors and smirked slightly.

"I don't care who they are, I'm working a solid lead here, making progress, and I don't like being benched for some gung-ho Jarhead and his I'm-so-much-better-than-you cousin—" Danny ranted as he opened the Captain's door to find Steve and Natalie outside, listening. Danny looked surprised to see the cousins, Steve grinning and Natalie with a scowl and her arms crossed over her chest.

"'Jarhead's' slang for Marine," Steve said, looking very amused at the blonde detective, while Natalie looked like she was ready to take his head off. "I'm Navy. You wanna insult me, call me a 'Squid'."

"Knock yourself out, Squid," Danny fumed, throwing the case file to Steve, who caught it easily. He stormed off towards his desk and Natalie called to him, "And I don't think I'm better than everyone else, you jackass!"

"Well, someone's got anger issues," Natalie commented as her and Steve watched Danny kick a trashcan after getting shit from a fellow detective as he left the precinct. Captain Hookano appeared in the doorway, beckoning Steve and Natalie to enter his office.

"What do you think of him?" Steve asked Hookano as Natalie trailed behind the two men into the office.

"Bad temper, good cop," Hookano supplied, giving the pair his honest opinion. "Probably best they had in Baltimore: Medal of Honor, bravery in the line of duty - but that don't make his job

easier here."

"You don't seem bothered by that," Steve pointed out.

Hookano sat at his desk, leaning back in his chair as he said, "He's got an attitude that doesn't

wear well. Things run a little different here. Some of the guys work in their own time zone – they call it 'Island Time.' You either adjust to it or you don't." He gave an offhand shrug before continuing. "I give him a year before he quits."

"I think you should give somebody a change before you just dismiss them like that, Captain," Natalie said prickly, not sure why she was defending Danny Williams. Hookano just looked at her and like he wasn't very happy that a woman nearly his status was addressing him

"And would that year be in 'island time'?" Steve asked with a scowl and Hookano looked at Steve, not liking either of the McGarrett cousins, as well as Detective Williams. Steve met his steely gaze with one of his own as he said, "He said he was working a solid lead…what is it?"

The Captain sighed before filling the McGarretts in on the details of Danny's lead, knowing the sooner he told them, the sooner they'd be out of his hair and out of his precinct.

"And where can we find Detective Danny Williams?" Natalie asked, leaning forward with her eyes on Hookano.

Steve once again drove the Jeep to Palolo, where Danny had a small, rent-by-the-night motel room. Natalie wrinkled her nose, the smell of cat urine strong, thanks to the rain that was now pouring down, and she hoped that she wouldn't have to be stuck in a place like this when she moved to Hawaii.

"Which room is it?" Steve asked Natalie (the pair had sprinted from the Jeep to the building to keep out of the rain) as they climbed the stairs to the second level of the motel.

"Room Forty-seven," Natalie answered, shivering at the creepy vibe she got off the place. Steve was the one to knock on the door, Natalie refusing to even touch it, almost seriously afraid that she would catch an STD if she did.

Danny pulled the door open, scowling when he saw Natalie and Steve at the door, Steve holding the case file. "What do you want?" Danny growled out, ready to shut the door on them.

"You requested a wire put on someone named Frank Doran. Tell me about him," Steve said, jumping straight to the point without so much as a 'hey' or 'hello.'

"Come in," Danny said sarcastically as Steve forced his way into the tiny room and Natalie just shook her head at her cousin's appalling manners, walking past Danny with a breathtaking grin.

Danny watched the red-headed woman look around his meager apartment, thinking she was pretty—actually, she was gorgeous, but he wasn't in Hawaii for that…

Natalie looked around the lonely little pit; an actual king-sized bed on one side and a neatly-made kid-size cot on the other. There were clothes still in the suitcase, half hanging out of it, empty six packs all over the coffee table as well as old takeout containers.

Natalie leaned over Steve's shoulder as he picked up a framed photo of cute little girl and Natalie guessed it was probably Danny's daughter, if not his niece, but most likely it was his daughter, she summarized.

"This your kid?" Steve asked Danny, looking up at him for a second, smiling at the picture of the beautiful little girl.

"Stunning detective work," Danny said sarcastically and Natalie snorted at his sassy attitude.

"You don't really let her stay with you here, do you?" Steve asked, looking around the very sad little room, which was really no place for a kid.

"What are you, Nanny 911?" Danny growled, snatching the photo back from Steve, setting it back down in its place. Steve ignored the dig and opened the file, pulling out the mugshot of Frank Doran.

"So, what do you know about this guy….Doran?" Steve asked, passing the mugshot to Natalie, who examined it closely with narrowed eyes before passing it to Danny.

"Well, surely you don't need my help, right?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"Enlighten us," Steve said, not really humored by the sassy detective.

"He's a suspected arms dealer; two years in Maui Correctional for weapons possession. He's currently a person of interest in an unrelated homicide. The weapon was never found," Danny explained, putting the photo down and put his hands in his slack pockets. That was something Natalie found odd about the man; he wore slacks, a button-down shirt, and a tie in Hawaii.

"What's he got to do with my father's case?" Steve asked, not seeing a connection to Hesse or his dad.

"When I ran a ballistics comparison on the bullet that killed your dad, I got a hit to the Doran investigation. See, I think the first thing Hesse did when he got to the island was hook up with Doran and get a gun," Danny explained and Natalie could see why he was such a good detective and why Steve was interested in having him on their taskforce. "Only I couldn't figure out why he'd hook up with a small fish like Doran... then I realized: small fish are harder to trace."

"That's Hesse's M.O., less linkage," Steve said, thinking, while Natalie took the case file, looking through it for anything useful. "But since it hasn't even been 48 hours, maybe Doran still knows where he is - let's go talk to him."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, excuse me. Are you suffering from dementia?" Danny asked sarcastically and Natalie snorted, closing the file and tucking it under her arm. "This is no longer my case."

"Yeah, well, Natalie and I need you to help us cover more ground," Steve said with a shrug and Natalie knew it was more a ruse to get Danny to join, though they really could use the extra help.

"Honolulu PD has over two thousand badges to choose from, I'm sure you'll—" Danny started to say, but Steve interrupted him in true McGarrett style.

"Your Captain said you transferred in from New Jersey six months ago, so your eye's still fresh. The take-out food, clothes still in a suitcase; you tell yourself this isn't permanent—" Steve summarized everything he had seen in the apartment, which was the same as what Natalie had seen.

"You know I appreciate it, but my annual psych eval's not for six months," Danny butt in, but Steve wasn't finished and Natalie just shook her head, already exhausted and in dire need of come good coffee.

"-single bed and no ring on your finger, obviously moved here to be close to your daughter," Steve continued as if Danny hadn't even spoken. "Which means between visits, all you got is your job, so you take pride in it; and your Captain, who seems like a pain in the ass, thinks you're good. That's what I'm looking for."

"Which he's right, you are good," Natalie said with a smirk, observing the blonde detective.

"Except guys like you think they know how to do everything better," Danny said to Steve, sending a quick grin to the red-head. "And that just makes my job harder."

"You got no choice, Detective," Steve said with a smirk. "The Governor gave me jurisdiction and I'm making you my partner."

"I don't work partners," Danny argued with a growl, while Natalie raised an eyebrow, wondering if she was chopped liver.

"You do now," Steve said with a grin, clapping Danny on the shoulder. "We're gonna get along great."

"Um, yeah, sorry about him. He's kind of….a bit much to take in," Natalie apologized to Danny, before following after Steve and down to the parking lot, Danny stewing over Steve, and confused over the beautiful red-head.

Danny had insisted on driving his Ford Mustang, leaving Natalie's rental parked in the motel parking lot, which she made sure was locked before leaving it behind; she didn't want charged extra if something happened to it.

With a scowl, she squeezed herself into the very small backseat, Steve needing the front seat, giving some bullshit excuse about getting car sick, though Natalie knew her cousin very well, knowing that it was just his macho need for control.

Danny drove the whole way with a scowl, Natalie raising an eyebrow with a small smile as his phone went off with the theme from Psycho, one of Natalie's horror movies.

"Take it your marriage didn't end too well," Steve observed as Danny hit ignore, silencing his phone. Natalie squirmed in her seat, her legs cramped, trying to get comfortable. Steve, ever the crap-headed older cousin, reached between his legs and pushed his seat back even more, further squishing her legs and she smacked her cousin upside the head with a scowl.

"No, it would've if my ex hadn't remarried and dragged my daughter to this pineapple-infested hellhole," Danny growled, watching Natalie in the rearview mirror as she interacted with Steve.

"You don't like the beach?" Steve asked in confusion and Natalie furrowed her eyebrows.

"I don't like the beach," Danny said simply, shocking Natalie.

"Who doesn't like the beach?" Steve asked.

"Seriously, the beach is awesome," Natalie said and Danny scoffed, replying, "I like cities. Skyscrapers. Land lock. No tsunamis. No jellyfish."

"No fun," Natalie said and Danny glared at her in the rearview mirror and she just shrugged, having seen his look.

"Tell me you know how to swim," Steve said after a beat and Natalie let out a snort, having an even harder time imagining someone living in Hawaii that didn't know how to swim than someone that didn't like the beach.

"Can I swim?" Danny asked in disbelief, wondering if that question had really come from his new partner.

"You don't know how to swim?" Steve asked in equal disbelief and Natalie just watched between the two as if watching a tennis match.

I know how… I swim; I swim for survival, not for fun," Danny replied and Natalie snorted, shaking her head, bewildered with the detective.

His phone rang again and this time he answered it, barking out bitterly, "Yes, dear?" before he suddenly softened his voice and soothed, "Oh, hey, Monkey! No, no, no, no, I thought you were your mom. I'm so glad everyone liked Mr. Hoppy... Yeah, I'm excited, too. We're gonna have so much fun this weekend too. Hey, Danno loves you."

"Who's Danno?" Steve asked after a moment as Natalie internally gushed, loving seeing a guy's softer side when they were interacting with their kids.

"Don't," Danny snarked, not wanting to talk about it.

"Hmm?" Steve only hummed.

"Just—" Danny said, dropping off what he was going to say next.

"Okay," Steve agreed, understanding keeping things private with a total stranger.

"Thanks," Danny said shortly, wanting drop the subject.

"Yeah," Steve said as Natalie turned her head to look out the window, watching the beautiful scenery go by until they ended up at Ewa Beach, which wasn't so pretty; in fact, it was kind of a shithole. Steve let Natalie out of the car as she eyed the meth head trailers around her, admitting to herself that Danny's apartment was so much better than this place.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Danny yelled at Steve, trying to get his attention. "This guy Doran's a shooter all right?" Danny said, not getting out of the car. "We shouldn't be doing this without back-up."

"You're mine and Natalie's back-up," Steve said as Natalie pulled her gun out of her holster that was strapped to her thigh, preparing herself if this Doran was as much of a shooter as Danny said he was. She and Steve started towards the trailer, halfway there before Danny caught up to them.

"Hey, hey, slow down, huh?" Danny said in a low hiss as he tried to catch up with the cousins, Steve and Danny also having their guns out, ready. Natalie heard a shouting match going on inside, a man and a woman fighting, when the front door suddenly slammed open and she jumped, aiming her gun. The woman, Doran's girlfriend, which Natalie had learned from the case file, stormed out the front door, catching the three of them off guard.

Danny instinctively grabbed the junkie, slapping his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming and Natalie used her free hand to put a finger to her lips before putting her hand back on her Glock.

"Where do you think you're going, Jaycee? Get your ass back in here! You hear me?" Natalie heard Doran shouting from inside the house, the floor boards creaking before stopping, and she knew he paused. "Jaycee?" Natalie heard Doran ask cautiously.

All of a sudden, the junkie bitch bit Danny's hand, breaking free and ran back inside, screaming, "Cops!"

"Fuck!" Natalie hissed as Doran fired off rounds, ducking and wincing as she heard a body hit the floor inside, knowing it was Jaycee. Beside her, Danny went flying backwards off the porch and onto a car windshield, smashing it. Natalie winced but stayed crouched down low as Doran continued to fire towards them before the bullets stopped whizzing over her head. A hail of gunfire came from the end of the trailer, glass shattering, and Natalie knew from experience that Doran was escaping.

"Danny!" Steve called out in concern to his new partner, who was still lying on the car, holding his arm steady as his shoulder bled freely.

"Go! Go! Go!" Danny shouted at Steve, who looked hesitant at leaving his new partner, bleeding, behind.

"Steve, go! I've got him," Natalie said, putting her Glock away as Steve took off, running after Doran.

"You should go after him, too," Danny said with a groan, putting pressure on his shoulder.

"Steve's got it," Natalie said, examining Danny's wound, seeing how bad it was. It was a through-and-through in the shoulder and Danny moaned like his arm was getting chopped off as Natalie took over putting some pressure on it. "Don't be such a baby," Nat growled, taking off her tank top, leaving her in just a skimpy, lacy cami, tying the tank top tightly around Danny's shoulder, forming a tourniquet with a stick, until an EMT or a doctor could get to it.

Moving her eyes from Danny's wounded shoulder to his face, only to scowl with a flush as she noticed his eyes were on her breasts that were sitting slightly above her cami, thanks to her Victoria's Secret push-up bra.

She cleared her throat and said, "My eyes are up here, Detective. I think your shoulder should hold up until we get you looked at by a doctor." Natalie helped Danny to his feet, rushing off in the direction that Steve had chased Doran in. She followed the wreckage (overturned baskets and fruit, people running and screaming, car horns honking like crazy and shattered glass everywhere), totally not surprised because that how she usually operated in LA, but panicked when she saw the blood and followed the trail.

"If he's hurt, I'll kill him," she muttered to herself, following the sound of people screaming and car horns honking like crazy. "This way," she shouted over her shoulder at Danny, pushing herself to put on more speed. When she reached Ewa Beach, Doran had a lady, holding her hostage and using her as a shield, so Steve couldn't fire anything.

"Put your gun down!" Doran shouted at Steve, while Danny and Natalie came up on the scene, both standing in a fruit vendor's stall, Doran's back to them and in shooting range. Both had taken out their guns, aiming them at the scumbag who was still holding the sobbing woman. "You don't think I'll do it?!"

Natalie and Danny didn't hesitate to each fire off a round when Steve lowered his gun, hitting Doran in the back and in the head, respectively, sending the dreadlocked tweaking arms dealer to the ground, dead. Steve looked in their direction, stunned, as he grabbed the screaming woman, holding her.

The EMS complimented Natalie on her patch job as they applied a bandage and gauze to his wound and she flushed before moving on to where Steve was looking for clues in Doran's trailer.

"Find anything?" she asked, glad the coroner had already removed Jaycee's body.

"Nothing yet," Steve said before he held his hand up to her in warning for her to keep quiet. Seeing that Steve had his Sig out, Natalie also pull out her gun, as well as her flashlight, walking slowly towards the noise that was coming from the bedroom closet. Natalie inhaled sharply at the sight of the two padlocks on the door, knowing nothing good was behind the door, as Steve cautiously unlocked the door. Natalie shown her flashlight into the dark closet, finding a terrified Chinese girl, somewhere in her early teens, crouched on the floor of the closet.

Natalie held her hand out to Steve, knowing that the girl probably needed a friendly female face, putting her gun and flashlight away, crouching down to the flinching girl, who recoiled like a wounded animal. Natalie held out her hands in front of her, saying, "Hey, honey, it's okay. We're not here to hurt you. We're with the police. We're here to help."

Natalie noticed the fresh track marks on the girl's arm, the filthy, ratty clothes, and the smell coming from her, Natalie summarized that the girl hadn't had a bath in some time, as well as food or water.

"What's your name?" Steve asked, kneeling by his cousin, trying not to spook the scared girl, while working to undo the thick rope that held the poor girl to a pipe. She just stared at the pair, shaking her head, and Natalie's eyes widened as Steve spoke in Mandarin next. "Ni jiào shén ma míng zi?" ( **What's your name?** )

"Chen-chi," the girl answered, her voice barely a whisper, her throat sounding dry, confirming Natalie's theory about the lack of food and water.

"Gen wo lái," Steve soothed to the girl. ( **Come** **with me** )

Natalie held out a hand for Chen-chi, helping the girl off of her feet, wrapping an arm around the super thin, shaking girl.

"C'mon, honey, ràng wŏmen gĕi nĭ yīgè ānquán dì dìfāng," Natalie said in a soothing voice, leading the girl outside, Steve following, surprised at his cousin's knowledge of Mandarin. ( **Let's get you somewhere safe** ) Natalie led the spooked girl to two HPD officers, though she would have rather passed her off to the ambulance. Chin-chi started jabbering, looking positively horrified that Natalie was going to leave her until Steve calmed her down, speaking Mandarin.

Natalie and Steve watched her go with HPD, who promised to take good care of the girl, before they walked over to Danny, who was mesmerized by Natalie's breasts bouncing slightly as she walked, just as any man would be, he told himself, before he snapped himself out of it.

"Okay, so she was smuggled in four days ago on a cargo ship from Chine, with her parents, a couple hundred refugees. She gets here, she's traded to Doran," Steve started to explain, but was soon interrupted by Danny, who's arm, in Natalie's opinion, should have been in a sling.

"Okay, excuse me, I'm sorry, but this is typically where you would, uh, say 'thank you' for saving your life," Danny said snarkily, glaring at the Navy SEAL.

"You and Natalie shot our only lead—" Steve ranted stubbornly, throwing an arm in the air, and Natalie rolled her eyes, knowing that Steve would be too torqued about losing his lead to Hesse to thank her or Danny.

"Hey, leave me out of your little lovers' spat," Natalie said with another eye roll at the same time as Danny spoke.

"Are you kidding me?" Danny scoffed, turning his head away for a moment to look at Natalie with a slight glare before turning back to Steve. "Are you kidding me?!"

"These are the same guys that are moving people out of Asia. They could've smuggled Hesse into Hawaii—" Steve said, but was once again interrupted by Danny and Natalie had to roll her eyes again at their childishness.

"You took a stupid risk, okay?" Danny burst out and Natalie really hoped she didn't get hit in the face by either of the cavemen. "Understand that. I am not getting myself killed for your vendetta. I have a daughter, okay?"

"Yeah, that girl there is someone's daughter, too," Steve tried to make him understand.

"Hey," Natalie hissed at her cousin, trying to warn him not to go too far as Danny stopped in his tracked, turning around, narrow-eyed.

"You don't get it," Danny scoffed. "You don't get it. I mean, for somebody who just lost his father, you're pretty dense."

"Whoa! That is too far," Natalie seethed to Danny, glaring dagger at the blonde man at the same time Steve asked in an incredulous tone, "What'd you just say?"

"Steve, calm down. Both of you calm down," Natalie tried again, but she was ignored as Steve stated to raise his voice, yelling now. "What'd you just say to me?! What if she was yours, huh? Is there anything you would not do to hunt down the son of a bitch that did that to her and killed her?"

"Do not question my resolve..." Danny said, getting in Steve's face, pushing Natalie's arms away as she tried to separate the two men that were acting like children.

"One warning—take your finger out of my face," Steve said with an amused scoff as Danny had stuck his finger right in his face.

"Oh, shit," Natalie hissed to herself and Danny started yelling, "Listen to me, you son of a bitch!" poking Steve in the chest with each word, trying to make sure his point went across.

Steve immediately reacted, grabbing Danny's uninjured arm, twisting it around behind his back, forcing Danny to his knees.

"Guys, cut this shit out!" Natalie screeched, trying to intervene.

"Stay out of this, Nat," Steve warned her before turning his attention back to Danny, who was crying out in pain. "What did I tell you? I warned you."

"What are you, a ninja? Let go," Danny grunted in pain as other officers started gathering, their hands on their weapons, just in case things got out of hand.

"It's fine!" Natalie immediately reassured them. "It's just an old married couple, working out their issues."

"It's fine," Steve also soothed them. "Go back to work, it's fine." He then turned back to Danny, saying, "Now, you don't have to like me or Natalie, but right now, there's no one else to do this job."

"Okay, let me go," Danny groaned, breathing deeply to alleviate the pain. Steve relented, letting Danny up. Danny's hair was in disarray, flopped over the front of his face, which Natalie thought was adorable. She didn't see what was going to happen next, however, or she might have tackled the two cavemen to prevent it.

Danny slowly stood to his feet, smoothing his hair back with a hand, as Steve said, "All right, look, we need to find these human trafficker—"

He was cut off as Danny threw a right rook at Steve's jaw, sending the SEAL stumbling back and onto the hood of a car.

"Steve!" Natalie cried out, moving forward to retaliate against Danny, but the blonde detective shoved her backwards to keep her from sending a hard punch to his nose. One foot caught on the other and she landed on her ass, seething. Danny just walked away from the cousins, saying, "You're right, I don't like you."

Steve made to get up and tackle Danny to the ground in rage for shoving Natalie to the ground, but seeing what he was up to, she jumped up and held up her hands in front of him, saying, "Steve, don't. I'm fine and he's not worth it."

Natalie was surprised when Steve let Danny drive again, but was suffocated by the heavy silence in the car, very uncomfortable with the fact that a person didn't like her; she was the type of person to try and please everyone and to keep everyone in her life happy with her.

"How's the arm?" Steve asked, attempting conversation and Natalie thought that if it was uncomfortable before, it was definitely more uncomfortable now.

"Let's just not talk," Danny bit out, gripping the steering wheel tightly with his hands, the sling ditched and sitting in the backseat by Natalie.

"You mean right now? Or ever again?" Steve asked sarcastically as Natalie leaned her head back against the seat, wishing that if it were possible, she could jump out of the moving vehicle to avoid the inevitable argument that was going to happen.

"Just both, okay?" Danny said and Natalie sighed in relief as silence once again filled the car and Danny glanced at her in the rearview mirror, thankful that she had patched him up after her crazy cousin had gotten him shot and would have to get her something as a thank you, but also guilty for shoving her to the ground.

"You know, I think…I think I might know why your wife left you," Steve retorted a second later, and Natalie actually groaned in annoyance.

"Really?" Danny asked in mock interest.

"Yeah, you're very sensitive," Steve said and Natalie only groaned again, slapping a hand to her face.

"I'm sensitive, huh?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Steve said.

"You think I'm sensitive?" Danny asked with a fake chuckle.

"Well, a little bit, you know," Steve said, only making the situation worse.

"When did you come to the conclusion that I was sensitive, huh? When a bullet was tearing through my flesh? Is that when I seemed sensitive to you? Look, I'm real happy you're not afraid of anything, okay? I'm glad that you have that GI Joe thousand yard stare from chasing shoe-bombers around the world, okay? But in civilized society has rules, all right? It is the unspoken glue that separates us from hyenas and jackals, all right?"

"'Hyenas and jackals'?" Steve repeated in disbelief.

"Fuck, this is worse than torture," Natalie groaned from the backseat, leaning forward to hit her head on the back of Steve's seat. "I'm way too tired for this."

"Calm down, Nat," Steve threw over his shoulder, receiving a death glare to the back of his head from his cousin.

" _Animal Planet_ , okay? The point is, rule number one, if you get someone shot, you apologize!" Danny ranted on, ignoring the cousins.

"I'm sorry," Steve said quietly, truly feeling bad for getting his new partner shot.

Danny, however, was on a roll, not hearing Steve as he said, "You don't wait for a special occasion."

"I'm sorry," Steve said again

"Okay? Like birthdays, or frickin' President's Day—"

"Hey man, I said I'm sorry, sincerely sorry," Steve said again.

"He really is sorry," Natalie said, trying to be a buffer and make the situation better and Danny sent her a grateful look in the rearview mirror. That was, until Steve opened his mouth again.

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Steve went on. "Last year. When this conversation first started."

Danny paused for a moment before he straightened his tie and said, "Your, uh…apology is noted. Acceptance is pending."

He looked at Nat again and she noticed the glint in his eyes and grinned at him, knowing he was teasing Steve now, the bickering over…for now.

"You'll let me know, now," Steve said and finally Danny smirked, Natalie sure the ice was actually breaking.

"Yeah. I'll let you know," Danny snarked.

"Make the next left up here," Steve bossed, pointing out the windshield.

"Why?" Danny asked, immediately on alert again.

"I think I know someone who can help us," Steve replied.

Steve gave Danny directions the rest of the way to Pearl Harbor, Steve leading Natalie and Danny to the museum gift shop after they parked, where a local man seemed to be interrogating a kid.

Natalie raised both her eyebrows at the crying kid as Steve knocked, surprising the man. The kid ran off, sobbing for his parents as Steve asked, "We interrupting?"

After Natalie and Danny were introduced to Chin Ho Kelly and vice versa, the four of them sat at a table in the snack shop, Natalie snacking on a soft pretzel since it had been hours since she had eaten last.

"Her name is Chen-Chi," Steve filled him in, showing Chin a picture of the girl on his phone, Chin looking troubled.

"Where'd you find her?" Chin asked softly, giving the phone back to Steve.

"Locked in a house," Steve said, looking equally troubled. "She came here to start a new life. They drugged her and turned her into a prostitute. The guy we're looking for is high profile: Victor Hesse. CIA, FBI, Interpol—he's on everyone's radar. Which means he didn't just land here and get his passport stamped—he was back-channeled in."

"Mm. And you think the same network that brought this girl to the island, smuggled Hesse in?" Chin asked.

"He made a fortune trafficking kids out of Malaysia, so…" Steve answered and Natalie grit her teeth, pissed and wanting to kill this guy herself, just for the kids alone, if not for killing John.

"Then you're looking for a Snakehead. Local Chinese gangs that specialize in human smuggling," Chin said with a frown.

"We need a name," Danny pushed and Chin scoffed and asked, "Are you kidding? Look at me. I'm a rubber gun now."

"You were on the force for fifteen years," Danny pointed out and Natalie looked at Chin with interest as said man exhaled heavily, thinking, before saying, "Okay, look, I know a guy who's got ties to that world, but you—"

"Great. Get us an intro," Steve butt in and Natalie sent her cousin a look that screamed, 'Manners!'

"Forget it," Chin said with an unamused laugh. "He's a former confidential informant. He trusts no one. Especially _haoles_."

"Then you talk to him," Steve pushed, but Natalie watched as Chin shut himself down, sensing some deep wounds that this was bringing up.

"I'm busy," Chin scowled, turning his head away from the three.

"You're busy? You expecting a crime wave in the gift shop this afternoon?" Danny asked sarcastically, looking around the dead gift shop around them.

"Look…." Chin said with a shake of his head. "I can't be a cop anymore."

"Why not?" Steve asked curiously, while Natalie was more than happy to observe, watch, and listen, which was what made her close so many cases as a sergeant.

Chin whirled around and said rather loudly, "Because I can't be, you understand? HPD accused me of taking payoffs. I'm the last person the department wants to see wearing a badge." He paused for a moment, seeing a few people staring before muttering, "I have to go."

"This is going really well," Danny muttered to Natalie, who grumbled and shrugged her shoulders, finishing off her pretzel.

"Did you take the money?" Steve called after him and Chin stopped in disbelief, turning around with a, "Excuse me?"

"Did you. Take. The money," Steve repeated slowly, this time not phrasing it like a question.

"It's a simple enough question," Natalie said with a raised eyebrow, speaking for the first time and Chin looked at her before slowly saying, "No."

"Then come with us, and we don't need to talk about this again," Steve said with a shrug. "Ever. This is your ticket back in the game. Call it payback. Call it whatever you want, I don't care. But I need you."

Steve wasn't about to let the subject go, Natalie knew, as did Chin, apparently, who then asked, "How do you know you can trust me?"

"Because my old man did," Steve simply said, which seemed to be good enough for Chin, who agreed to introduce them to his CI an hour later, which gave Natalie a chance to go back to her room and take a hot shower, wishing that she could get some sleep. After getting her Jeep from the parking lot of Danny's motel room, Natalie drove back to her room and showered.

Having five minutes, she sat on her bed, considering all the work she would have to do when she actually moved to Hawaii permanently. She made a list on her work notepad, writing down all of the things that she still needed to do: Finding a house, forwarding her mail, changing her address on her bills, and first and foremost, informing her mother. She groaned in exhaustion, flopping backwards on her bed and closing her eyes for a moment.

Next thing she knew, there was an insistent knocking on her motel room door and she had to pry herself off of the bed to answer it, forgetting she was still in just a towel. She flung the door open to find Danny, his hand raised to knock on the door again.

"Um…" Danny trailed off, at a loss for words as his eyes wandered up and down Natalie's scantly towel-covered body before gulping, meeting her eyes.

"What's up?" Natalie asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, not aware of Danny's ogling.

"We're, uh, supposed to meet Chin's CI," Danny stuttered out, trying to keep his eyes on her face.

"Oh!" Natalie said, looking surprised, her eyes widening and a redness slowly spreading across her cheeks, which Danny thought was adorable, as she realized that she was just in a towel. "Sorry! I fell asleep after my shower and completely forgot to get dressed!" And cue word vomit, Natalie thought as she snapped her mouth shut. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Okay, sure," Danny said with a nod, keeping his eyes on her until the last possible second when the doors shut.

Natalie dug through her bags for some clean, non-sweaty clothes and came up with a pair of black yoga pants, a bright yellow bikini top (her boobs were small enough that she could get away with wearing it instead of a bra) that wasn't coated in boob sweat like her bra was, and another racerback tank top that said LAPD across the front. She pulled her red hair up in a ponytail and slipped into a pair of Nike's, not bothering with make up because she'd probably just sweat it off anyways.

She met Danny downstairs with an embarrassed grin and they both walked to Danny's car where Steve was waiting, eyeing the two of them with a smirk. Natalie glared at her cousin as she once again climbed into the cramped backseat and she could sense a pattern occurring with that. The drive from her room wasn't far, as they drove to Kapahulu Avenue, right on the beach, and Natalie wished she had to surfboard and was able to surf some of the large waves she could see.

Chin led them to a building that sold shaved ice, manned by a man in what she was sure was an XXXXL Pro-Bowl T-shirt and Natalie knew that she was gonna like this guy.

"Hey, Kamekona!" Chin greeted the man, grabbing his hand to pull him in for a bro-hug, saying, "How's it?"

"Good to see you, brother," Kamekona greeted.

"Hey, bro," Chin said, leaning in closely as Kamekona question, "Hmm?"

"I need a name," Chin said.

The man, Kamekona, sent a wary glance at Steve and Danny before sending a smirk to Natalie, who rolled her eyes at the man as he said, "Hey, wait out there. After they pay. The pretty lady can stay. Three cones, two-shirts, and a lady's shirt to go," Kamekona said with a smug grin, holding up a very large t-shirt with his own smiling face on it and Natalie smiled tightly as Chin's look now said, 'buy it now.' "For the pretty lady, on the house, just this once."

"Aw, thanks," Natalie smiled at the large man, already liking him.

"Okay," Steve agreed, really wanting the information. "Medium."

"XL and up, brah," Kamekona said with a smirk. "My face don't fit on anything smaller. Except the lady's shirts; those have to fit the lady's bodies, of course."

"How much _kala, bulleh_?" Steve asked, pulling out his wallet to pay.

"You speak bird, huh?" Kamekona asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, I grew up here," Steve said, trying to prove that he wasn't a _haole._

"Doesn't matter, you still look _haole_ to me," Kamekona said, shaking his head.

Steve pulled out fifty bucks, but Kamekona shook his head, saying, "This one feels a little bit lonely, brah," and Natalie raised an eyebrow as Steve pulled out four one hundred dollar bills, handing them over to Kamekona, who pocketed them, handing over to XL shirts to Steve and Danny. He also handed Natalie a hot pink medium tank top, with his face on it, too, and she slid it on over her LAPD shirt, which Kamekona raised an eyebrow at.

She only winked at him, holding a finger to her lips as Kamekona turned back to Danny and Steve and said, "Cool. One more thing I need you two fine white gentlemen to do…"

Minutes later, Natalie sat on the hood of Danny's car, said man upset on losing the argument of her actually sitting on his car, which he was against. She was still giggling as she ate her piña colada shaved ice over how ridiculous Steve and Danny looked in their very oversized shirts, leaning against the car, eating their own shaved ice.

She let out another giggle as a little girl standing nearby, staring at the three of them and Natalie thought she was adorable.

"Are you a cop?" the little girl asked Steve

"No," Steve scowled while Natalie internally swooned at the adorableness of the little girl.

"Well, you look like a cop," the little girl said with big eyes. Steve lowered himself down, crouching next to the girl, offering her his uneaten shaved ice.

"You like cotton candy? Go find your mom," Steve said and Natalie snorted at Steve's lack of child skills.

"I don't like cotton candy," the little girl pouted, her face screaming that she would cause trouble for the trio.

"I got something you might like, okay?" Danny said, reaching into the backseat and pulled out a large, pink bunny, which he handed to the little girl. "How about…how about that?" Natalie grinned as the girl lit up, yelling out, "Yeah! Thanks!" as she took off.

Natalie fought the urge to squeal, "Aww!" at Danny's daddy instincts, which she found incredibly hot in a guy. Steve threw Danny a look, asking, "You always carry around pink bunny rabbits?"

"What, you don't?" Danny asked sarcastically.

"Wow, you guys have such a way with kids in your own ways," Natalie said with a chuckle. Chin exited the shack, walking back to the trio, seeing Steve and Danny in their ridiculously large shirts and laughed.

"You better have a name," Steve huffed, in what Natalie called his full pouting mode.

"Oh, I do," Chin said with a grin, giving them the name Sang Min.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Natalie said, in a good mood, her nap having done her good. She hoped off the hood and called over her shoulder, "Thanks, Kame!"

The backseat was even worse as both she and Chin squished in the very cramped space, driving to the Lolani Palace, which was the State Police Taskforce HQ, soon to be the new taskforce's Headquarters. Natalie wished she had her laptop as she logged into the database on the ancient computer, typing in Sang Min's name, slowly pulling up the information they needed.

"Sang Min," Chin said, reading the screen over Natalie's shoulder. "Came here from China about eight years ago. According to my man Kamekona, Sang Min runs the island's human import/export business. So Hesse could have used him to get on and of the island."

"So let's say this guy's for real, he's got no reason to tell us where Hesse is," Danny said in frustration.

"Well, we find some leverage, twist his arm," Steve said with his well-built arms crossed over his well-built chest as he suddenly got an idea.

"Define 'leverage'," Chin said, looking wary at the idea.

"Simple bait-and-trap. Wire up an undercover, send him in," Steve said simply with a shrug.

"Only one problem, _malihini_ ," Chin said with a bit of a chuckle. "That might work well on the mainland, but we're on an island with less than a million people. Which means the bad guys know the good guys, so we need to look for our bait outside the box."

"I'm not from the island, I can do it," Natalie immediately offered, having worked many undercover assignments before, but Steve immediately shot her down with a shake of his head.

"We need someone to play the part of an immigrant trying to get their family out of China," Chin explained gently, as not to hurt her feelings and she scowled to herself, cursing her stupidity for not putting that together.

"I take it you have the perfect guy in mind," Steve said, raising an eyebrow at Chin.

"Oh yeah," Chin said with a grin. After another horrid car ride to the beach later, the trio stood on the sand, Natalie wishing she could be out in the water, as she watched a female shredding a long, massive wave.

"Holy shit, she's amazing," Natalie commented, gaping like a fish and her eyes wide, knowing talent when she saw it.

"That's your cousin?" Danny asked in awe.

"Choose your next words carefully. Both of you," Chin said in amusement, looking at Steve and Danny, not really concerned about Natalie, already noticing she was a sweet kid.

"She's very... talented," Danny said, not really into surfing at all, but was still amazed.

"She's off the charts," Chin said proudly. "Spent three years on the pro circuit before she blew out her knee. The kid was devastated. Had to reinvent herself, and decided to wear a badge. Graduates from the police academy in a week. Unfortunately, she's family, which means the HPD will never take her seriously."

Natalie watched as the woman paddled off in the middle of a handful of guys, getting the inside track, on her feet first, carving a bottom turn at the base of the wave before carving back up to shoot the barrel. Natalie winced and hissed in a breath as another surfer dropped in on her and she biffed it, falling off her board and getting pummeled in the washing machine before bursting to the surface.

"Fuck, that sucks," Natalie said with a wince, watching as the woman paddled back to shore, clearly pissed off.

"You sure she's ready for this? She's got no street experience," Steve said, unsure as the woman rushed up to the surfer that had cut her off.

"Ho, brah!" she called out and as the guy turned, she slugged him, hard, right across the jaw. "Think twice next time you wanna drop in on someone's wave."

"Ooh," Natalie breathed in, wincing as she heard the smack and then grinned. "I like her."

The woman spotted Chin, standing with Natalie, Steve, and Danny and jammed her surfboard in the sand to hold it in place before jogging over with a huge grin.

"Cousin!" she called out, embracing him and kissing his cheek cheerfully.

"Oh, you had him, Water Woman," Chin said with a dopey smile. "Double-overheads."

"Waste," the woman scowled. "First good pipe of the season."

"Tourists—what you gonna do," Chin commented with a shake of his head before turning to Natalie, Danny, and Steve to introduce them. "Kono, meet Commander Steve McGarrett, Detective Danny Williams, and Sergeant Natalie McGarrett."

"Nice right-cross," Steve said with a smile, shaking his hand.

"Nah, Man, that was a love tap," Kono said with a grin.

"Yup, I like you," Natalie said to Kono with a grin, the native woman happy to see another female to connect with.

"Hi," Danny said with a smile, shaking Kono's hand. It went on a little long and Chin had to step in with a, "That's good, brah."

"Your cousin tells me you're graduating from the police academy next week," Steve said to Kono. "How'd you like to earn a little extra credit before you do?"

"I'm listening..." Kono said, intrigued, looking from Chin to Steve.

Steve and Nat went back to the McGarrett home, though it was still an active crime scene, Steve didn't care since he owned the house and the crime scene, insisting that Natalie stay in the guest bedroom, instead of the shitty room she had checked into that morning. After moving her suitcase to the foot of the bed for her, Steve left to head downstairs while Natalie crashed on the bed, not even bothering to change out of her clothes or remove her shoes.

She woke up two hours later to Steve shaking her shoulder and sitting on the bed, telling her that the meet was set for the next morning and that she had missed Danny coming by, as well as the information he had dug up on Jovan Etienne, a computer programmer for the Russians, who had been present when his father had been murdered.

"So, what d'you think of Danny?" Steve then asked, catching Natalie off guard.

"Oh, um, he's seems like a good cop, very dedicated to his daughter; I mean, he moved to a place he hates for her. So I think that means he's dedicated to the job; loyal," Natalie said slowly, thinking about the good-looking blonde detective. She smirked at Steve then and said, "It's also good that he's not bad on the eyes."

Steve chuckled and patted Natalie's knee before leaving her to go back to sleep. Natalie yawned before reaching over, unlocking her phone to set an alarm for six in the morning, pumped for the taskforce's first sting operation.

Natalie woke up before her alarm the next morning, up at five thirty, amazingly, before Steve was up. She raided the fridge, finding eggs and some coffee and she started both, too jittery to sit and do nothing. Steve came in a few minutes later, his Navy SEAL training snapping him wide awake when he smelled the coffee brewing, only to find his cousin in the kitchen, making breakfast.

"Morning," Steve said, startling Natalie.

"Shit, Stevie! Some warning would be nice!" Natalie scolded him, though she smiled, getting him a plate of food.

After breakfast and a quick shower, Natalie changed back into the same clothes as the previous day, bikini top and all, wishing that she hadn't been in such a big hurry when packing, wishing that she'd packed more clothes. Well, at least she was clean. She decided to go with her LAPD tank top, rather than the very distracting bright pink one Kamekona had given her, going for slightly more discreet.

Steve took the wheel of her rental Jeep, driving them to Lolani Palace, where they were meeting Danny, Chin, and Kono. Natalie stood over a table, looking at a map of Sang Min's facility, along with Steve, Danny, and Chin, trying to memorize all the exit routes. Kono emerged from the next room, dressed to play her role in a dress that looked like it was ready to fall apart at the seams and Natalie wished she was going in instead of the rookie, not wanting anyone to get hurt.

"How do I look?" Kono asked with a grin, feeling and looking all amped up.

"This crew's our only link to Victor Hesse," Steve said, approaching Kono. "Sang Min, the producer, you get him to talk, illuminate the network, we'll indict and use him to catch our fish."

"Let's do this," Kono said with a huge grin, and Natalie couldn't help a ghost of a smile, Kono's grin very contagious.

"Stop smiling," Chin scolded, moving closer to Kono, getting right in her face. Natalie's smile dropped instantly when Kono's did, Kono caught off guard. "This isn't an academy training exercise, these guys aren't tourists you can punch in the nose—they kill for recreation. One more body on the pile means nothing. If you move wrong in there, and I mean one inch, your ass is smoked. So this is all on you, girl."

"I got it," Kono said quietly, chastened and Chin stared at her and said, "Feel that fear? Use it. You'll do good."

"Alright, Kono's in play," Steve said, making sure all the equipment was working. It was less than an hour after leaving the Palace and Natalie was crammed in a surveillance van with Chin, Steve, and Danny, wearing her body armor and religiously checking her rounds in the magazine clip on her gun, over and over, trying to calm her jitters. The only sounds in the van was Natalie taking the clip out and reloading it over and over, and Kono over the speaker system.

"Here we go," Danny muttered and Natalie let a prayer slip out, hoping that this would work.

Steve had pulled some strings, Natalie was sure it was with his lady friend, and had gotten a military grade audio surveillance system, along with thermal imagery of the office that Kono had entered. Natalie memorized where the four white hotspots were in the office, knowing that they could move at any given time, but it made her feel slightly more comfortable to know where her targets were.

"Okay, kid, just get him to say how he's smuggling people off the island," Chin said, talking to Kono through her nearly invisible earwig in her ear.

"My friend says you need my help," Natalie heard a greasy, what she was sure was Asian, voice say over the speakers.

"I have an aunt and uncle in Nanjing. They would very much like to live here," Kono said, using an accent and broken English to play the part and Natalie had to admit, the girl had talented.

"I can have your family here within a week," Sang Min replied. "Getting them out of China is easy. Paying for it—that's the hard part."

"I have money," Kono pleaded and Natalie watched on the screen as Sang Min rose from his desk and approached Kono and Natalie grit her teeth as he got a little too close for comfort.

"Do you mind if I ask what you do?" Sang Min oozed out, eyeing Kono, which Natalie didn't like.

"I work at the cannery on Pacific," Kono said, thinking quickly to keep Sang Min from getting suspicious. "And weekends as a housekeeper at the Royal Hawaiian."

"Two jobs. Very commendable. Only I'm afraid the kind of money we're talking about might be out of your reach," Sang Min said and Natalie actually growled as the creep leaned forward and ran his hand through her hair; she wanted to kill this bastard. "Unless of course we find some other form of payment—"

Natalie held her breath as he suddenly reacted to something, removing his hand from her hair, rubbing something between his fingers and she was ready to jump out of the van and charge in the building to save Kono.

"Not yet," Steve muttered, placing a hand on her arm.

"Sand," Sand Min sneered. "What kind of person working two jobs has time to go to the beach?"

"All right, that's it. Pull the plug. Let's get her out of there," Danny said, worried about his new teammate.

"Relax," Chin tried to ease Danny's nerves "The kid can handle herself."

"Hey, he smells a trap, he's gonna kill her, all right?" Danny tried to press, but Chin just replied with, "Trust me."

Natalie bit her lip as she turned her attention back to the screen, watching as Kono tried to save her ass, coming up with an excuse for the sand.

"I surf during my lunch hour," Kono said, thinking fast.

"Or maybe you're a cop," Sang Min said, getting in Kono's face again. "Did anyone check her for a wire?"

"We checked her when she came in," one of the Samoan bodyguards-for-hire said.

"Maybe you missed it," Sang Min said and gave Kono a dark look before ordering, "Take off your dress so I know you're not wearing a wire."

Natalie hissed through her teeth, very unnerved and ready to charge in. Despite reassuring Danny that Kono was going to be fine, Chin was also on edge as Kono slipped off her dress, which hit the floor, and stood in just her bra and panties.

Natalie wanted nothing more than to charge in there and rip Sang Min's head off with her bare hands as he stood up and approached Kono, sneering, "Turn around." Natalie held her breath as Kono hesitated; Natalie knew that the native had to go with it or risk blowing her cover.

"Fuck," Natalie hissed out as Kono turned around, showing Sang Min that she didn't have any wires on her and seethed as Sang Min stood right behind the brunette, breathing down her neck.

"I'd like to put my dress back on now," Kono said meekly, keeping up her scared girl cover. Natalie let a little of the tension in her shoulders dissipate, but she tensed up all over again as Sang Min snapped a photo of Kono with his phone.

"What are-what are you doing?" Kono asked in fear with wide eyes, thinking that Sang Min was just a perv until he spoke again.

"I'm going to send this photo to a friend of mine," Sang Min said, as Steve burst into action.

"Okay, we've got a wire on that phone," Steve said, herding Natalie to the computer, knowing she had computer skills, picking some up here and there over the years. "C'mon, Nat, I need you to trace the call."

"Okay," Natalie said, sitting down in front of the laptop. "Running the trace now."

"And he's going to show it to his friends. If anyone recognizes you, you're dead," Sang Min continued on, unaware that his text was being traced.

"Fuck, c'mon, c'mon," Natalie muttered to herself, willing the trace to move faster. Steve put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down, knowing that she would be no good if she was frazzled. "Okay, it's a mobile number and unlisted," Natalie said when the trace came back.

"Got a location?" Steve asked, sounding like he was trying to hold himself back from rushing her.

"Holy shit," Natalie said when it finished. "Honolulu Police Department. The shithead's got a mole. Can I kill this skivvy fucker now?" Natalie spat out, trying to take a deep breath to calm herself as the front gate closed.

"You'll get your chance, Nattie," Steve said, patting her on the shoulder over her body armor, but then he cursed as the audio surveillance started to cut out, only giving them bits and pieces.

"We have to move, now!" Natalie exploded, not being able to take it anymore. Steve flung himself into the driver's seat, and without much warning, floored the van, busting through the front gates, sending the metal pieces flying. The same thing happened with the wall of the warehouse and Natalie braced herself as Steve stomped on the brakes, sending her, Chin, and Danny into a forward jolt. Being veterans to this sort of thing was what kept the trio on their feet as in the next second, Natalie exited the van alongside Chin and Danny, firing her Colt M4 Carbine at the shitheads that were trying to kill her and her team.

"Keep your face down on the floor!" Natalie yelled, aiming her weapon at one of the many guys Kono took down with her bare hands. Nat had to admit, she was very impressed with the young woman, but they still had to find Sang Min, who wasn't already lying on the floor from having his ass handed to him.

Danny and Chin were yelling similar things, as Natalie handcuffed the shithead she had been aiming her gun at.

"Hey! Let me see your hands!" Steve yelled suddenly and Natalie looked up to see Sang Min, disgusting mullet and all, standing behind his desk. He had the audacity to smirk at Kono and Natalie, who had moved to stand beside the woman, aiming her gun at Sang Min, as Steve walked behind him, ready to cuff him.

"Gun!" Steve shouted, as one of the scumbags behind Kono and Natalie got up, aiming a gun at Steve, getting off a few round, providing the perfect opportunity to escape for Sang Min. Before Steve could fire back, Natalie recovered from ducking, which was instinct, and whirled around, dropkicking the guy right in his balls, sending him to the floor. She kicked him in the head, knocking him out and very quickly kicked the gun away from his hands.

She nearly didn't react quickly enough; Sang Min had gotten hold of a hidden gun, firing off sprays of bullets at the team. All of a sudden, she felt herself flying through the air from a hard force hitting her and hit the ground, hard, with a weight covering her.

"Stay down," she heard Danny hiss in her ear and if her adrenaline wasn't so high, she would have shuddered at the warmth of his breath hitting her ear and neck.

A couple of seconds later, the firing stopped and Natalie knew that it meant that Sang Min had left the building.

"Anybody hurt?" Steve called out.

"Good," Kono shouted back.

"Good."

"Good."

"Good," Natalie groaned out after Danny had gotten off of her. She quickly grabbed her weapon, which had been flung when Danny had tackled her, making sure the safety was still intact before slipping it off to rush after Steve and the sound of tires squealing.

She joined Steve in open firing at the car that Sang Min was trying to get away in, aiming for the tires as the car charged straight for them. She suddenly realized that Sang Min wasn't slowing down and Steve wasn't moving out of the way in time.

"Steve!" she cried out, dropping her gun to her side (thankfully the strap was still in tact) and grabbed his arm, using all of her weight to pull him out of the way of the incoming car.

Their combined efforts of shooting had been enough and the car swerved, finally crashing into a shipping container. Natalie moves, her footsteps sure and swift, as she has her gun back up in her hands, aiming it at Sang Min as slowly moved around her saying, "Keep your hands on the steering wheel."

Natalie internally cheered as Steve immediately yanked the fucker out of the car, throwing him on the ground with a, "Hands behind your head."

The rest of the team emerged, only breaking cover when Steve assured them it was clear.

"We got movement over here," Chin said, moving on the other side of the car, right by the shipping container.

"Go ahead," Danny said, training his gun on the door, just in case it was filled with more people with guns trying to kill them. "Go ahead, I got you."

"I've got him, Steve, go ahead," Natalie said, keeping her eyes on Sang Min.

"You sure?" Steve asked, taking Nat's nod as confirmation, and he moved to the entrance of the container. Natalie put her foot in the middle of Sang Min's back, keeping him on the ground.

"Don't even think about moving, you sick fuck," she hissed at him.

"You got some spirit, Firecracker," Sang Min oozed out and Natalie was sure that he would be leering at her if he could.

"Shut up, fucker," she retorted, watching both him and the container as Chin opened it. She heard voices from inside speaking Mandarin and other languages, as well and her heart sank when she realized it was more refugees that had been shipped.

It took a while for buses to reach the warehouse, but just over an hour later, they were taking the refugees' names and filling up the buses, ready to send the people on to better lives. Steve had even gotten someone from HPD to bring down Chen-Chi, hoping they could find her family in the chaos. Natalie had glanced at the refugees with sad eyes, knowing that their work wasn't quite finished. There was still the matter of finding Hesse and uncovering the mole that was in the HPD, all of which she knew that Steve wanted to accomplish by the end of that day, if possible.

This led to her being in the small office in the warehouse, helping Chin interrogate Sang Min.

"C'mon, give us something on Hesse," Natalie said, using her soothing 'good cop' voice, just trying to get Sang Min to talk. "We might even be able to get your sentence reduced, if you co-operate, that is."

When Natalie had been ignored, Chin pulled his laptop out, choosing a good spot from their surveilling earlier, hitting play and the small room echoed with Sang Min's voice saying, "Getting them out of China is easy. Paying for it, that's the hard part."

Chin tapped the keyboard again, pausing the recording, going with bad cop and turned to Sang Min with narrowed eyes and said, "Laser Audio Surveillance. You don't need a wire to get a confession out of your _hupo_ ass."

"I'm going to sue you and Firecracker here for entrapment," Sang Min sneered with a smug look on his face that Natalie really wanted to smack off.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Natalie snarled, done with playing good cop.

"You wish, sweetheart," Sang Min leered at her before turning back to Chin. "And when I'm done collecting, I'm gonna find that little hottie you sent in here, and this time, I'm going to be less of a gentleman."

Seeing red, Natalie lifted her leg up and sent her foot right into the fucker's crotch at the same time that Chin picked up a heavy ashtray and smacked Sang Min right across the head with it.

"Sorry, Boss," she heard Chin say and she turned around to see that Steve had walked in. She grit her teeth against an apology, still pissed, but Steve just shrugged and said, "I didn't see anything."

"You didn't see anything?!" Sang Min exploded. "Son of a bitch and this cunt hit me!"

Natalie narrowed her eyes, her hands itching to hit him again, but Chin put a hand on her shoulder.

"Shut up and don't ever call her that again," Steve said, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You want to file a report, you're going to need a witness. Do you want to file a report?"

"I want to go to jail now," Sang Min said smugly.

"Where is he?" Chin asked, taking his hands off of Natalie's shoulder to stand right in front of Sang Min. "Where's Hesse?"

Knowing that just questioning Sang Min like they had been doing wasn't enough, Steve walked over to the file they had on the fucker, pulling out a photo as he said, "What about your wife and kid? You know where they are? I do. She's getting her nails done on Kalakaua Avenue. And your boy is at his private school in Diamond Head. You know, I wonder what he's gonna think when he finds out that Daddy takes kids just like him and puts them on the street to be pumped full of black tar heroine and then sold to strangers like animals."

"I'm pretty sure he'd either never talk to you again, pretend you were dead, or actually want someone like you dead," Natalie said, tilting her head to the side, as she gave a mock gasp of astonishment.

"You're going to jail," Steve said with finality. "That part's not up for negotiation. You family is about to lose a husband and a father. In my eyes, now they're your victims, too. The trouble is, the law doesn't see it that way. You wife—she's from Rwanda. She'll be sent back. They both will. If they're lucky, they'll make it to a refugee camp. And your son? Seven's old enough to hold a gun for the Hutu Militia."

"You'll never see them again and they'll most likely be dead within a year there," Natalie said, crossing her arms over her chest as she helped Steve tag-team Sang Min, who seemed to be thinking about what they were saying.

"Natalie's right," Steve went on. "I can prevent all that. But I don't help people who don't help me."

Steve replaced the pictures in the folder, standing beside Natalie, also crossing his arms over his chest and Chin had to smirk internally at how similar they were in that moment.

"What kind of cops are you?" Sang Min spoke after being silent for a moment.

"The new kind," Steve retorted.

"Okay, okay," Sang Min broke, actually looking serious as he nodded.

Twenty minutes later, Natalie was in the backseat of the squad car that Steve had barrowed, Danny in the passenger seat, both of them hanging on tightly as Steve sped his way through traffic while talking on the phone with the Governor.

"Sang Min put Hesse and Etienne on a cargo ship headed for Chine— _The Emma Karl_ ," Steve filled her in as he swerved around a car, nearly causing Natalie to go flying in the backseat.

" _Steve, do not even think of—"_ the Governor started to say, but Steve cut her off.

Governor, you wanted a taskforce that would do whatever was necessary," Steve interrupted. "You promised me immunity and means."

" _No, no. Not…not to provoke a diplomatic incident by boarding a Chinese freighter headed for international waters._ " _Damn_ , Natalie thought, as she listened in on the conversation from the backseat.

"If China is caught smuggling a terrorist, trust me, they won't say a word," Steve assured her as he went around a very large truck, going back in his own lane just in time to avoid colliding with a car in front of them. "I did my job, Governor. I found Hesse. Now you do yours. Tell the Coast Guard to block the port. That ship is not going anywhere."

"Way to stick it to the Man," Natalie said as Steve hung up on the Governor. He only spared one second to smirk at her in the rearview mirror before turning his attention back to driving.

When they reached the docks, Natalie jumped out of her skin as Danny's phone started screeching horror music at the same time that Steve screeched around a corner, throwing her against the passenger side window harshly.

"Son of a bitch," Danny exclaimed right before he answered the phone with a, "Yeah?"

Natalie made a 'Yeesh' face in the mirror to Steve as Danny started yelling, "Rachel. Rachel, don't start with me. I left you two messages, telling you you need to pick her up. Don't tell me you had to change your plans. You send a driver for her half the time anyway. I can't…I can't do that right now. I'm in the middle of something. Please stop for a second. Can you just do me one favor? Just tell Gra—tell Grace Danno loves her, all right?"

Natalie raised an eyebrow, which Danny caught sight of in the rearview mirror; he also caught Steve's curious look.

"Okay," Danny exclaimed, finally giving in. "Gracie was three, she'd try to say my name, and all that she could say was Danno. That's all that came out. Danno. Okay?"

"I think that's adorable," Natalie gushed, grinning brightly from ear to ear.

"That's it?" Steve asked, thinking there had been more to the story.

"That's it. That's it," Danny said as Steve went around another corner like he was in _Tokyo Drift_. Natalie reached up quickly to grab the 'oh, shit' bar, hoping she didn't knock her head against the window.

"It's cute," Steve said with a shrug.

"Shut up," Danny said, indicating to Natalie with his thumb. "She can say it's cute and adorable but you should not."

"Why—why…why can't I think—"

"Don't…!"

"—it's cute?" Steve finished and Natalie only rolled her eyes. They only knew each other for two days and already they were like an old married couple.

"Because," Danny retorted cleverly. "Because I don't need you thinking anything about us. It's between me and my daughter."

"All right," Steve agreed, turning one final corner, much to Danny and Natalie's discomfort; Natalie smacked her head on the window and Danny's stitches tugged uncomfortably.

Steve braked and Natalie's head just about smacked into the back of Danny's seat, sending a glare Steve's way, but he didn't notice; he was looking out the windshield at the cargo ship that sat in front of them.

"There it is— _The Emma Karl_ ," Steve said.

"What a terrible name for a ship," Natalie muttered, also looking out the window at the ship when she saw it. There was a man crouched down on a yellow shipping container on Danny's side and she wouldn't have been so worried if she hadn't caught sight of a flash of sunlight catching on something reflective and she knew that he had a high-powered rifle and a scope.

"Taking off. How do you wan tot do this?" Danny asked, gripping his seat tightly as if he was afraid of the answer. Natalie's hand went to her Glock that was in her thigh holster to shoot the sniper but before she could, she was flung back in her seat as Steve floored it, taking off at the ship.

An idea popped into her head, then. It wasn't a very bright idea and would possibly get her killed, by either the sniper or Steve if she survived, but it was the best one she had to prevent Steve or Danny from getting their heads blown off. The second the car hit the ramp, catching a little air at the top, Natalie flung open her door before it could be pinned shut by narrow spaces, leaping from the moving vehicle to catch the edge of the shipping container the sniper was on, trying her best to ignore Steve and Danny's shouts, as well as the couple of rounds that hit her vest, leaving her breathless.

Catching said breath, she pulled herself up over the edge, immediately reaching for her Glock, but it was kicked out of her hands by the sniper. Deciding that it was time to put her hand-to-hand combat to use, Natalie stepped into her defensive stance, ready to kick the guy's ass. She immediately blocked the punch to the gut, missing the one that caught her across the face, splitting her cheek slightly.

She crouched down, quickly sweeping the guy's feet out from under him, knocking him down on his back. She pulled her knife out of her boot, glad she carried one with her at all times, and held it to the guy's neck as she sat on his chest, pinning him down.

"Go ahead, I dare you to move," Natalie snarled before using the handle of her KA-BAR to smack the guy on the side of the head, knocking him out. She made sure that the shithead was weapons free before dropping off the storage container, rolling to the side to avoid being shot, snatching up her dropped gun in the process. She came out of her roll, shooting the fucker that dared tried to kill her, putting him down.

She silently made her way through the maze of shipping containers, shooting the baddies as she saw them, changing the mag in gun when she ran out of bullets. She finally found Danny pinned down by a goon that kept taking cover when Danny tried to get a shot in and shot him in the back at the same time Danny did a diving/roll, shooting the guy in the foot. She nodded at Danny, who did the same, moving on to try and find Hesse or Steve.

Knowing that Danny could handle himself, she sprinted back to the squad car, finding a pair of handcuffs, and climbed back up the yellow shipping container to find the sniper was still unconscious. Not seeing an easy way to get him down, Natalie just shrugged and rolled him off the edge, hearing him groan as he hit the deck below.

She hopped down herself, rolling the guy on his stomach to cuff his hands behind his back.

"You bitch!" the guy yelled as he struggled.

"I've been called worse," Natalie said with a shrug.

"I think you broke my ribs," the guy moaned in pain.

"You'll heal," Natalie quipped, yanking him to his feet to walk him to the squad car. The guy that Danny had shot in the foot and that she had shot in the back had lived and Danny arrested him.

Suddenly exhausted, Natalie couldn't wait to have a nice hot shower and slip into unconsciousness for a week. Steve joined her and Danny, clutching his shoulder, which was bleeding.

"He got you good, huh?" Natalie asked, pulling a gauze pad out of her vest pocket to press to his wound.

"I'll live," Steve said with a shrug, though he winced as it pulled at his bullet hole. "And what was that shit you pulled, jumping out of the car like that?"

"What?" Natalie said in defense. "There was a sniper about to take off yours and Danny's heads. That was the only option to keep you both alive."

"You could have died!" Steve exclaimed.

"So could you!" Natalie shouted right back at him, indicating to his shoulder, which was still bleeding. "And I learned to do the stupid stunts from you, you goof!"

That stunned Steve for a moment. He didn't think the non-classified stories that he had told her over the years had inspired her to pull Evel Knievel-like stunts and nearly get herself killed.

"Look, Stevie, I know it wasn't the smartest move, but knowing it saved lives, I'd do it again," Natalie said stubbornly and Steve sighed, knowing that his cousin was just too much like him.

After the trio got looked at by EMT (Steve being a big baby about it, trying to declare himself fine until Natalie stepped in) and cleared to head home Natalie gave Danny a brief wave, accepting the ride with Steve from an officer to the McGarrett home. After taking what felt like the most glorious shower of her life, Natalie crashed into bed, only bothering to slip on some panties and the tank top Kamekona had given her, falling asleep almost immediately.

Steve woke her up the next morning with a cup of nectar from the gods, otherwise known as coffee. Grumbling and wiping sleep from her eyes, she took a moment to sit in bed and enjoy her coffee after Steve left before getting up to get dressed for the day. Her cheek was tender and the spot where the bullets had hit her vest were severely bruised, but otherwise, she was fine.

Steve wanted to go to the Palace to see how renovations for their new taskforce HQ was going, so Natalie put her dress from John's funeral back on, along with her heels (because running shoes and combat boots don't go with a black dress). She threw her hair up in a messy bun to mask the bird nest that had formed overnight and didn't even bother with makeup as she headed downstairs for breakfast.

Someone from HPD had been nice enough to return her rental from Danny's motel to Steve's house and she drove her and Steve to the Palace. She could tell it was bugging Steve, not being able to drive, since his arm was in a sling to keep his stitches from busting.

Walking in, Natalie saw that it was going good and stepped into an office on the far side that she claimed as her own. She stood at the window, catching just a glimpse of ocean in the distance and smiled to herself. Across the room, she noticed Steve and Danny having a bromance moment and smirked, knowing that they could pretend all they liked, but they did like each other and would probably become very good friends, almost brothers. She knew that Steve was giving Danny the room for the Kahala Hotel, which she and Steve had stopped and reserved for Danny on the way to the Palace that morning.

An hour later, Chin and Kono had joined them, the five of them sitting around, drinking beer and talking and laughing. Kono and Natalie bonded instantly over surfing, Natalie telling her that the waves here were sick compared to the little things they had in LA. Kono promised that after Nat moved, they would go out one weekend and just spend the whole day in the water.

They moved onto the topic of giving the taskforce a name, which Kono and Natalie were strongly in favor of.

"Okay, guys, honestly, I think we need a name," Kono pressed with a grin.

"Yeah, we do," Natalie said with a nod. "Something that gets the bad guys afraid when they hear it."

"A name?" Steve asked with a scoff while the other chuckled.

"What kind of name? What are you talking about?" Danny teased, smiling at Natalie, which Steve caught.

"Yeah, like something to call ourselves. What do you think?" Kono said with a smile.

"Why do we need a name?" Chin asked.

"Well, we can't announce ourselves as police, because we're a bit beyond that," Natalie said. "And we can't just call ourselves three dudes and two chicks that are going to catch you."

"Point taken," Chin said with a laugh.

"And besides, we're gonna be working together, and it's be cool," Kono said as Natalie took a sip of her beer, not really a beer person, but she wasn't going to complain. "And Nat is right. Can you imagine?" She deepened her voice to imitate Steve. "'We're three guys and two girls and we're coming in to arrest you. Put down your weapons!'"

Natalie immediately burst out laughing, sputtering out, "Oh, my god, that sounds exactly like Steve!"

"Oh, thanks," Steve said with a grin, poking his cousin in the side, getting her to squeal and jerk away, very ticklish.

"I got it!" Chin suddenly announced, coming up with a name for their team. " _A'ohe hana nui ka alu'la._ "

"What does that mean?" Natalie asked with a chuckle when Kono burst out laughing, slapping her hands on her knees.

"What?" Chin asked his cousin defensively when Steve joined in. "What are you laughing at? Come on. That means 'No task is too big when done together.'"

"It's a bit of a mouthful," Natalie said with a laugh. "Can you imagine announcing that to criminals?"

That set Kono off in another bought of laughter, grabbing onto Natalie's shoulder to steady herself.

"This is the problem with you _haoles_ —no team spirit," Chin said with a mock pout.

"Oh, we have plenty of team spirit," Natalie said with a laugh. "Just not the kind you want us to have."

"No island spirit," Chin corrected himself.

"No, honestly. Come on," Kono said, once she had stopped laughing. "We need something cool like Strike Force."

"Strike Force?" Chin asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Kono said. "Strike Force."

"It's terrible!" Natalie said with a grin, elbowing her new friend in the side.

"I hate that so much," Danny said, agreeing with Natalie.

"You know, I say we keep thinking," Steve finally decided, and Natalie smiled at her new family she had found, at the home she had found.


End file.
